


You Say I'm Crazy

by RepetitiveEpiphany



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Ron Weasley, Draco and Harry Are Not Together At The Beginning, F/F, F/M, M/M, Ministry of Magic Employee Hermione Granger, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Not Epilogue Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Quidditch Player Ginny Weasley, Quidditch Player Harry Potter, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23274076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RepetitiveEpiphany/pseuds/RepetitiveEpiphany
Summary: Draco Malfoy was tired of fighting. After years of work to restore his family name and fortune, he simply wanted to be at peace to enjoy the results of his struggles. He wants to focus on his family, his friends and especially his marriage.But why does it feel like he is the only one that does not know something? Why is it all falling apart? What can he do? Must he always be the one to fight?How much more can he take before it becomes too much.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii! This is my first upload here! 
> 
> So I started this little bundle of feels recently and just found the nerve to post it (it only took being locked in the house for days with nothing to doooo!). I am excited to finish it and get this story out of my head. I know how it ends but I have no idea what happens between this and there ssooooo... We'll make it there! Promise. 
> 
> I hope anyone who takes a read will enjoy and thank you!
> 
> \- K

Draco Malfoy sat in the breakfast room of the town manor he currently shared with his husband. He stared out into the street with a cup cradled between his long fingers. If one were to look upon the scene it would reflect a man at peace.

They would see a beautiful young man with long platinum blonde hair flowing around his broad shoulders, his long nose and slightly pointed chin softened by the blonde halo surrounding him. They would not be able to see his eyes clearly, but they would assume that those eyes would reflect the peacefulness that was radiating from the young man. They would see him peacefully enjoying his morning tea while enjoying the rays of the morning sun. They would all agree that he was a beautiful man.

As the sun rose higher into the sky an owl soars above the trees approaching the manor. Draco Malfoy’s eyes drift away from the spot he had been staring at for unknown minutes at the slight hoot close to the window. His eyes track the owl as it approaches the door of his house. In one smooth arch the owl dives towards the door and deposits the envelope held between his talons into the small slot located on the door and then it soars into the air.

Draco’s eyes tracked the entire flight of the owl. He would have been impressed by the feat if he had not seen it countless times in the past. His eyes continue to follow the owl as it moves further and further away before disappearing in the morning light. He continues staring into the light for a long time and then his eyes drift into the cup still cradled between his fingers.

His cup was empty. Draco was mildly shocked by this. He could not recall having finished his tea.

Standing slowly, he gently places the cup on the window silt. He leans into the wall for a moment closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and releasing it, his gentle exhale fogging the glass before him. His eyes flutter open and he turns slowly to face the room.

A room one would expect to be immaculately decorated and spotlessly made up to reflect the grace and wealth of its owner, however, if anyone were to see this room, they would be shocked by the total chaos surrounding him. The chairs were broken, the table split in two, the mirrors broken, the dishes shattered and food and liquid spread across the floor.

Draco Malfoy looks at it all with the detachment of one lost inside their own head. After a few more deep breaths, he makes his way across the room towards the door. He steps on the shards of a broken breakfast plate and then the remnants of a mirror, he continues moving without a flicker of emotion showing on his face.

He comes to a stop at the open door and turns to survey the room. He pulls his wand from his pocket and with a smooth loop of his arm and a flick of his wand the room starts to put itself together.

Draco watches this all happen and then with no more interest or emotion than he has displayed all morning, he looks around the tastefully decorated room as if checking that everything was in its place. Seemingly satisfied he turns and closes the door gently behind him.

He drifts down the hallway towards the door, his wand no longer in his hand, once again lost in that place in his head. That is until a shrill scream disturbs the quiet of the house. Draco flinches slightly and stops walking. Turning around he spots a small, smaller than average, house elf holding onto his ears in obvious distress.

“Master Draco Sir! What have you done to your feet Sir! And... Creeky's flloooorrrr!” The last word was uttered with mounting dread.

Draco looks down impassively at the floors and then his feet. He stares for a few seconds and then looks at the shuddering and wailing house elf.

“Oh Creeky do shut up. It is only a little blood. Nothing you have not had cause to deal with before.” His voice was just as barely above a whisper and without inflection.

The house elf continues wailing about his floors and almost like an afterthought, Draco's feet. Said feet were bloodied and Draco could feel the hot sticky substance gathering below his feet. But still, Draco felt no pain. As the wailing gets louder, he looks up at the elf.

“Clean it, if you so desire.” With that he turns away from the elf who looked to be moments away from banging him head into the floor. He slowly walks towards the entrance of his home. Bending down, he picks up the envelope that had been delivered only minutes ago.

Draco stands slowly and scans the writing on the envelope. Finally the impassiveness of the morning lifts as he releases a weary sigh, his eyes begin to water and his shoulders sag for a mere second, but then, as if one had imagined it all, he turns from the door perfectly composed.

Draco glided towards the staircase without looking back at the door and the small elf that was now cleaning the spot he had been standing. Creeky would make sure any lingering evidence of his morning meltdown was erased.

It was time to begin his day.


	2. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello Everyone. This chapter is reintroducing us to Draco and just giving his background leading up to the events that will take place. Thanks for checking this out and I hope you enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a background chapter and is over 3000 words. I apologies for any mistakes and will go back to check over in a few days.  
> \- K

Since the war Draco Malfoy had done many things. Good things, bad things. Things that he could not tell another human because of the shame he felt. Things that he wished he could do again. But mostly there were things that he took great pride in having accomplished.  
The twelve years since Harry Potter had testified at his trial and saved him from going to Azkaban had seen Draco accomplish many things. But the thing that had truly ensured his re-entry into wizarding society, was The Dragon’s Cauldron, his potions company.  
After the trials were finalized the Malfoys, namely Narcissa and Draco as Lucius was sentenced to fifty years in Azkaban, found themselves on the lowest rung of wizarding society. They had some wealth left after paying repatriations for the war but not much. After having paid millions in Galleon over to the Ministry as part of the bargain to keep himself and his mother out of the wizarding prison, one would expect that society would think they had paid the price for the wrongs they had done.  
But it was not to be. Even those families that had shown support for the Dark Lord had ultimately turned their backs against the Malfoys. No one wanted to be seen with the Malfoys as the Ministry of Magic sought to use them as an example for all those who thought that following the Dark Lord had been the right thing to do.  
The ministry had taken great steps to ensure that the Malfoy heir and his mother were no longer able to live comfortably in wizarding society. They had tried to strip the family of all the wealth they had accumulated over the centuries, but lucky for them, inheritance magic was not something that could easily be overcome. They were not able to confiscate the Malfoy Manor as it could only be owned by those of the Malfoy lineage. Instead they had stripped the house of all its possessions down to the smallest spoon.  
They had not been able to take all the Malfoy money as payment for repatriations because Draco was no longer the sole beneficiary of the Malfoy fortune. Upon Draco’s turned eighteen, which occurred a mere two days before his trial, half his inheritance was automatically allocated to his heir. Many members of the wizengamot had tried to argue that as he did not have an heir the money should be given over to the Ministry. But those from pureblood families had explained that even thought it might sounded plausibly, in reality, the court would have to unravel centuries of wizarding inheritance laws put into place to ensure that the generations to follow were always provided for.  
In the end the Ministry had seized everything they could. The holiday homes, the vaults the family had access to, the artifacts, the paintings, even the house elves under the guise of setting them free. Draco had been able to keep the Manor and the inheritance left for his heir, which he could not touch. His mother was able to keep a very small vault that was left in her maiden name.  
On the day that Draco and his mother had been allowed to bid farewell to his father, his father had pulled him close and under the guise of hugging him had whispered very softly. “Below the manor.”  
Draco had watched his father being taken away looking very puzzled. He felt the gentle touch of his mother on his elbow. He had turned around and looked into her sad pale face, probably a mirror of his own at the time, and she had smiled sadly.  
“We must go now son.” She had said softly.  
Draco had nodded and they left the ministry.  
The taunting, sneering and hatred from the wizarding population had begun on that day. And it would not stop for many, many years to come.

***************

Draco sat staring at the three vials before him. He was in his second lab hiding away from his responsibilities for the day. He was only her to check up on the potions he was brewing in secret.  
The three vials shimmered beautifully.  
The contents of one vial was blue in colour and gave off the faintest glow, the second was iridescent and looked as if it was still bubbling lightly, the last was such a pale grey it was almost translucent.  
Draco picked up one of the vials and stared down at it as the memories from years before continued to overrun his mind. 

***************

Draco and his mother had returned to the manor after seeing his father dragged off to Azkaban. His mother had apparated them onto the front steps. They had both stood staring at the front door unwilling to enter the empty house. But they had nowhere else to go.  
Narcissa had taken a deep breath and touched the tip of her wand to the door handle and it swung open gently. She walked into the vast empty hall and turned around to face her son when she realized he had not followed.  
Draco stood at the door with his head hanging down, his shoulders slumped and defeat evident in every line of his body.  
“Draco?”  
Draco stiffened for a few seconds and then looked up at his mother. She stretched out her hand.  
“Come son. We must figure out what to do.”  
Draco took a deep breath and walked towards his mother. She had hooked her arm around his and started walking towards the back of the manor, their footsteps echoing loudly in the cavernous spaces.  
“What did your father say to you dear?” She had asked softly.  
Draco had looked up at the woman beside him. She somehow managed to look the same as she had before everything went to hell. The only visible difference had been her eyes. Her eyes were sad, so very sad, and tired.  
Draco had looked away from her and hung his head. “How do you know father said something?”  
Narcissa had scoffed softly. “You and I know that your father does not show such affections.”  
Draco had simply watched his feet move for the longest time, counting the steps he took with his mother. One, two, three, four…  
His mother watched him without saying anything. They continued walking through the manor.  
Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine…  
“Draco. Please speak to me.”  
Draco had stopped walking so abruptly it had caused his mother to shuffle a bit to keep from falling. She released his arm and stared at him.  
“Father said ‘Below the manor.’ That was all.” Draco mumbled.  
Narcissa had blinked several times very slowly and then a small smile touched her lips. “Of course.”  
She had grabbed Draco’s arm urgently, and showing more energy than she had in months, dragged him through the passageway and towards the eastern wing of the manor.  
Draco had looked at his mother in shock but did not protest. He did not know where she was dragging him off to, but he did not really care.  
Narcissa had moved quickly through the manor. She then pushed open the door to the kitchens located in the west wing and then moved quickly over to a door on the left. She twisted the knob and then finally released Draco’s hand. She looked down into the darkness and pulled out her wand.  
“Lumus.”  
The tip of her wand ignited with a small globe of light. She turned to Draco. “Come Draco.” Then she had disappeared into the darkness.  
Draco stood at the door for a few more seconds and then followed his mother into the dungeons. 

*************** 

Draco shivered slightly as he finally joined his mother in the dark dungeons of Malfoy Manor. Before the invasion of the Dark Lord Draco had had no reason to remember they had dungeons. Dungeons with cells and the smell of disuse and cold. It was so very cold.  
Draco had hugged himself. He had not been into the dungeons in a long time. The Dark Lord had preferred to use the ones located in the south wing. That’s where he had kept all his prisoners. Draco had shivered slightly and hugged himself tighter focused on his mother.  
Narcissa had looked around several times and then moved towards one of the cells in the middle of the room. Draco had followed. She stood in the cell looking into the small space with a look of utmost concentration and then shook her head before moving away to the one beside it. Again, Draco followed.  
Draco had watched his mother inspect cell after cell after cell until she stopped for a long time at the one located on the right, second from the wall. Draco watched her looking around the cell, still with his long arms wrapped around himself. He did not know what she was looking for because all the cells looked the same to him.  
Finally, she had turned to him. “I believe this is the correct one Draco.”  
Draco blinked. “The correct what mother?” He really had no idea what was going on.  
Narcissa had stepped further into the room and gestured to him. “Come.”  
Draco dropped his arms and followed his mother. She pointed towards what Draco assumed was a random spot on the wall. “Stand close to there.” Draco did as he was told.  
“No give me your hand.” Draco stretched out his hand. “Now I am going to cancel this spell so that I can cast one to cut your finger. Then I want you to place your finger against the wall.”  
Draco did not question his mother. She was the only person he could trust. “Yes mother.”  
Narcissa nodded. “Nox.”  
The dungeon was plunged into darkness. Before Draco could panic over the darkness that surrounded him, he felt a quick sharp pain on his finger, then he heard his mother cast the spell to ignite her wand again. As the light came back Draco looked down at his finger. It was only a small cut. He looked at his mother who was staring at him patiently.  
Draco looked away from her and to the wall. He slowly raised his hand and ran the bloodied finger against the rugged wall of the dungeon. Nothing happened. Draco looked back to his mother who now looked disappointed. But then they heard a crumbling sound coming from the wall. They turned in unison to see the wall sliding away to reveal a dark space.  
Narcissa released a small sound of triumph and quickly entered the room with her lighted wand. She stepped further into the room and Draco saw her gesture towards him to follow. He stepped into the space.  
As Draco crossed the threshold, three sconces on the wall flared to life illuminating the room. Draco heard Narcissa gasp in shock and Draco would have as well of he if he were not in total shock.  
The room was not very large. But every available surface away from the centre of the room was crowded with stacks and stacks of Gold Galleons. Draco looked at his mother and saw her with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes shimmering.  
In the centre of the room was a table with only a piece of parchment and Draco guess that this was what had cause the reaction in his mother. And not the revelation of this new found wealth.  
Draco approached his mother and looked down at the parchment. It was in a familiar scrawl and only a few lines long.  
“Son,  
If in the end we fail, I trust that somehow you have been spared the same faith as I. If so then you are most likely in a position of need. I leave this here for you as this room cannot be revealed under any spell as it is has been hidden for many centuries by blood magic. This is not the ending I would have wanted. Be well.  
Father.”  
Draco choked back a sob. It wasn’t an apology. And it wouldn’t fix what had happened. But they were no longer penniless, as the ministry had explained in no uncertain terms that the funds left to Narcissa Black could not be accessed until a divorce was granted to Narcissa Malfoy or she was widowed.  
The sum of money in the room was enough to take care of Draco and his mother for a few years. Not in the fashion that they had been raised but well enough to survive.  
Draco had looked at his mother as she sobbed in relief and vowed that he would somehow restore the family fortunes and name.  
Somehow.  
Someday.

***************

Draco startled only slightly as the sound of his alarm ran through the small lab he sat in. Gently placing the vial on the table, he stands. He looks around to room to make sure everything is as it should be, satisfied he moves towards the exit. He casts a wordless, wandless spell to prick his finger and ran it along the wall. The ragged stone wall before him slips open and he steps through quickly as the door closes firmly behind him.  
The room he steps into is his main lab, in the area that use to be the dungeons. This was now the main potions lab of The Dragon’s Cauldron, the leading potions lab in Europe.  
Draco looked around the neat, clean workstations of his lab making sure that all was in its place. Not many person were allowed into his work space, but sometimes the other brewers had no choice but to enter, with or without him present and while they always tried to be respectful of his rules, Draco did not trust them in this space.  
Having proved to himself that all was as it should be, Draco heads towards the stairs that would lead him to the ground floor. He pushed open the door at the top of the stairs and entered the room that was once the kitchens but now served as the office of his secretaries.  
Four pairs of eyes looked up at him as he entered. The young woman closest to the door jumped up and walked over to Draco her arms full of files, her heels clacking against the floor.  
“Good Afternoon Mr. Malfoy. Just in time as always. Your 2 o’ clock should be here shortly, so we have some time to go over the files if you like sir.”  
Draco mentally shock himself, reminding himself of who he was and where he was.  
He smiled slightly at his Personal Assistant, Minerva Smith, a former Hogwarts student who had only been in fourth year during the war. A Ravenclaw, she has been called a potions genius. No one had been surprised that she was hired even before she had completed her potions mastery, the surprise had been that she chose to work for the disgraced Malfoy heir, who was just starting his company. The surprise for Malfoy had been he decision to work as his PA and not a brewer.  
Draco had gladly handed over the jobs he particularly hated to his PA, the meetings, the hiring, the firing, and the paperwork. He enjoyed the brewing and she enjoyed bossing him and everyone else around. Win, win.  
“Yes. Let us await them in the meeting room.”  
Minerva nodded and strutted out of the room.  
Draco looked at his secretaries. “Please ensure that…”  
“No one enters the lab.”  
“Tea is served in the meeting room.”  
“All owls from your mother and husband are sent to you immediately.”  
Three voices overlapped and cut him off. Draco smiled at them. “Yes. Thank you.”  
He walked out of the room and entered the hallways of his company. Ten years ago Draco had converted the manor into the headquarters of his, at the time, two years old company. He marched through the hallway remembering when it had only been him in the halls, producing all the potions with no help and one secretary, his mother, to manage the orders.  
He recalled that no potions master would brew for him. No one would rent him a space for his company and so he had converted a room in the manor to his lab and brewed from there. He ran his hand along the wall thinking about the days he would walk the halls by himself after brewing for days on end without sleep. He recalled the mistakes, the triumphs, but mostly he recalled the silence.  
These days, the hallways were not silent. He could hear voices, he could hear cauldrons bubbling, he could smell potions of different kinds, he passed bodies in the hallway, people greeting him in a friendly voice.  
He smiled and greeted all who greeted him and greeted those who did not. But inside he was the same as he was this morning. He could not let them see. He could not let anyone see.  
At least not yet. His plans had only just begun.

***************

Draco, head down and apparently very focused, mumbled a distracted goodbye to his Personal Assistant.  
Minerva looks around her boss’s office a final time, making sure that all the things he might possibly need would be easily accessible and all the files used for the day were not lying around the office. Satisfied she had put everything in order she walked briskly out of the room closing the door gently behind her.  
Draco continued to write in his potions journal waiting for Ms. Smith to finish her evening rounds. She went through the same rituals every evening before she left the office. She would pop in to say farewell, make any corrections she felt was needed in Draco’s Office and once satisfied she would exit the office without another word. She would then linger in her office for a few minutes just in case Draco remember something he would need from her at the last minute. Draco never did, but Minerva Smith was nothing if not dedicated.  
Draco raised his head abruptly as he heard the roaring of the fireplace in the eternal office which indicated that his rather efficient personal assistant had finally left. Immediately he slumped into his chair, the strings holding the perfect doll together, finally loose.  
The days were getting more taxing, trying to pretend that he was not falling apart on the inside. His eyes became unfocused as his thoughts once again drifted. Unsurprisingly they drifted to the day he most wanted to forget. The day he decided to finally give in.

*************** 

Draco was hunched over a cauldron brewing a large batch of Pepper Up potion. His improved version of the Pepper Up potion of course. The winter season was close and that meant an increase in the sales of all health improvement tonic.  
It was three years after the war. And only a year since the restrictions placed on his mother had been lifted. Draco was still under orders to stay in the manor for another year. Not that he minded, as this was the only place he was able to brew in peace. His business was not thriving, but it was good. He had two apothecaries that were willing to stock his potions, even though he was a convicted death eater. He has no illusions that the men had done it out of the goodness of their hearts, and every confidence that his mother had some information that would cause problems for the men if she was to whisper them into the right ears.  
Whatever the reason may have been, they were now stocking any potions he made, and he received his correct amount of the profits. In his mother’s name of course since all earnings he made until his probation period expired would be heavily taxed by the ministry to continue paying repatriations to the ministry.  
Draco was sure his business could be bigger, but he refused to put his ideas into effect until after his restrictions and probation was lifted so that the ministry would not get a knut more than necessary from him.  
He added the final ingredient to the potion and gave it a final stir. With a great breath he straightened. Now to bottle. The tedious part as he was not allowed to use magic while working. Another ministry restriction. He pulled the table with the hundreds of vial stacked neatly on it closer to the cauldron and began the process of bottling. He was halfway through as his mother swept gracefully into his lab. She made her way carefully towards him and handed him a note with a slight smile on her face. Well, smile, only if you looked just the right way.  
“Do you need help dear?” She asked placing her hand gently on his shoulder. She had become far more tactile since the war. Touching him more than she had before. She could not be in the same room with him for any amount of time without touching him in some way.  
He shook his head and shooed her out of his lab, he preferred working alone no matter how tedious. She chuckled and left.  
He opened the note and though he did not smile, his eyes brightened as he read the two words on the paper.

Come over. – B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> \- K

**Author's Note:**

> Thank You Very Much for reading.
> 
> \- K


End file.
